Poll: Democrats Trail in Senate Races

Republicans are in a better position than Democrats in the 34 states with Senate races in this year's midterm elections even though Democrats poll better on some key issues, a new poll finds.

In those states, 50 percent of registered voters say they would vote for the Republican candidate versus 42 who would vote for the Democratic candidate, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The survey was taken Feb. 27 through March 2 of 1,002 adults, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Voters favor Republicans even though 68 percent of Americans say that the Republican Party is "out of touch with the concerns of most" Americans, according to the poll.

They also trust Democrats more on handling middle class issues, healthcare, immigration, and energy, while the two parties are fairly evenly divided on taxes, the economy, and the federal budget deficit.

However, neither President Barack Obama nor his party could get a majority of Americans saying that they were concerned with the problems that face average Americans, a sign that they are not happy with elected officials.

Obama still has a negative approval rating at 46 percent. And a majority of Americans are still not happy with how Obama has handled the economy and the rollout of Obamacare.

According to the poll, 36 percent of respondents say they are less likely to vote for a candidate who supports Obamacare and 34 percent say they are more likely to vote candidates who favor the law.

Seventy-two percent say the economy is "not so good" or "poor." While a majority of Americans say that the economic recovery has begun, only 18 percent say it's a strong recovery, and 40 percent say it is weak.

When it comes to immigration, the survey found that 38 percent of Americans were less likely to support a candidate who favors a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and 30 percent were more likely to vote for candidates who do.

Americans are split on which party they favor in the House, with 46 percent of registered voters saying they plan to support the Democrat and 45 percent saying they would vote for the Republican.